Beauty and the Beast Comic Version
by Clinically Insane
Summary: Warning: first story in comic verse!-(remix from the first BB in movieverse) Creed takes a trip down memory lane one night, 3 mo. later 6 wounded X-Men show up at his estate in Canada. He strikes a deal with Storm it all goes down hill from there!
1. The Bargin

Chapter 1: Lets Make a Deal  
  
Disclaimer: I own nothing, but Moneda so far.  
  
AN: I promise it will get funnier as it goes along!  
  
T'was the night before Christmas-Uh, wait, scratch that-I don't wanna get sued!  
  
Look, the bottom line is it's Christmas Eve and Sabertooth is at one of his mansions. This one happens to be just over the NY boarder in Canada.  
  
Vic's in his room sitting in an over stuffed leather chair in front of a huge fire place with a roaring fire. An end table stands to the left of the chair supporting a chaser of bourbon. His left hand hangs idly of the off the arm of the chair gingerly holding the rim of a 6 oz. Austrian crystal glass.  
  
The remaining liquid in the glass barely made a film over the bottom of the glass. Three ice cubes were stacked up against the side of the glass.  
  
He had just got back from a job in Argentina and he was exhausted.  
  
He would have stayed over the holiday with his contact, Carlos. Only Carlos had to go home to his family, this meant that Vic had no one to play with, which really gave him no reason to stay.  
  
As long as Vic could remember the holidays had always sucked. When he was a little boy, he spent 24/7 chained in the basement, the holidays were no exception. No matter what he always wound up alone (AN: Well, not totally alone, but that's coming up soon).  
  
It seemed as though everyone had someone, but him and it pissed him off! LeBeau had the Rogue, Mystique-well, she could have whoever she damn well pleased-Hell, even the runt had China Doll!  
  
Vic would have kept going down his list of self loathing only he felt something tugging at his hand, more specifically his glass.  
  
"Dammit, Mona!" growled Creed.  
  
~*~  
  
Mona, or more correctly Moneda, and Mr. Creed crossed paths in Spain half a century ago. At the age of 15 she had been a maid in Senior Santiago's mansion. Santiago had been a drug lord Creed was assigned "handle" shall we say?  
  
Moneda had been looking after the baby that night, while her employer and his wife gave their annual Navidad (Christmas) party. When she heard all the screaming Moneda picked up the baby (Havier) and ran down the back stairs to the kitchen to escape out the servants' entrance, only she ran into El Tigre before she could make it out the back door.  
  
No more than 5'2" and 109 lbs she stood up to El Tigre, who easily had over a foot and over 100 lbs on her. She blatantly refused to hand the baby over. At one point she even clocked him with a frying pan, but not before two of his claws tore two deep trenches in her left forearm.  
  
He never got the baby, however, the police showed up and the contract Victor had signed specifically stated "NO POLICIA!".  
  
The two didn't meet up again for another 40 yrs.  
  
After the police arrived they interviewed Moneda and then sent her and the baby to the estate of the baby's aunt in the mountains. She remained there for ten years, until she had saved enough money to come to the United States. Once in the US she found a husband and settled down in Harlem. She had three children, 2 boys and a girl: Manuel, Gorge (hor-hay) and Maria . Her husband died in a construction accident when her little girl was 3 and her boys were5 and 7. Later she lost both of her sons in Vietnam and Maria married a man who moved her back to Moneda's native country. Maria died to years of consumption (TB), but not before having a little girl, Teressa.  
  
Teressa, came to the US at age 16 to live with her grandmother after he father took ill. By age 18 she married a man by the name of Diego to escape Harlem. Only later did both Moneda and Teressa become aware of the fact that Diego was an international criminal wanted in over 10 countries. There was a police raid on Diego's mansion, which left no survivors.  
  
It was not long after that Moneda left New York and wondered from place to place, job to job, until when she was 55 and saw an ad for a house keeper wanted in Canada. You can imagine her shock when she was ushered into an office by a tall blonde woman, just to sit across from a man she hadn't seen for 40 years and find that he hadn't aged a day from their last meeting.  
  
"El Tigre," was all she could whisper.  
  
Victor narrowed his eyes and started to growl, "Where did you here that name?"  
  
Moneda rolled up her sleeve to show him the scar from his claws.  
  
"YOU!" Victor said in disbelief.  
  
That meeting occurred ten years ago. Victor highered her on the spot and she had worked for him ever since.  
  
(I know, I know, useless secondary character plot, but it had to go somewhere!)  
  
~*~  
  
"Por favor, Senior Creed, es muy tarde, (Please, Mr. Creed, it is very late)" said Moneda softly, she used Spanish whenever she wanted him to do something.  
  
She was finally able to pry the glass from his clawed hand.  
  
"I'm not a little boy, Mona!- I c'n put myself to bed!" Victor started to argue.  
  
"Come now, Senior Creed, you have to get up in 12 hours and fly to Switzerland," said Moneda as she put the glass down on the end table and easing Victor onto his feet, "You know you can't sleep well on planes or hotels unless no one else is on the floor," then she added as a side note "no one alive any way."  
  
Victor started to growl, "What was that last thing!"  
  
Moneda felt his claws gingerly tickling the back of her neck as she turned down one side of the bed.  
  
"You didn't scare me when I was 15 and you don't scare now when I am 65." Moneda said as she reached back and removed Sabertooth's hand from her neck.  
  
Reluctantly Victor compiled with her request and laid down on the bed. Moneda tucked Victor in and turned out the light.  
  
(I'll explain Moneda's motives in this scene later on in the story.)  
  
The next morning Victor picked up his bags in the main hall and took a limo to the airport, forgetting his feelings of loneliness, for now.  
  
~*~  
  
3 Months Later  
  
The X-Men had gone into battle just North of the Canadian boarder in search of a newly discovered mutant, only the Acolytes got to him first. The X- Men had barely been able to escape with the amount of damage they had incurred. A team of 6 had been sent: Rogue, Gambit, Storm, Jubilee and Cyclops. They had only been able to escape by Storm providing a smoke screen of fog.  
  
Storm and Rogue had been for the most part unscathed other than being emotionally shaken. The rest, however, were not so lucky. Cyclops had a broken arm and had sustained some severe gashes around his face. Jubilee had been knocked unconscious and was in Kurt's arms. Kurt had deep gashes up and down his arms and legs. Although it was Gambit that had received the most damage. He was completely unconscious in Rogue's arms and his black X-Suit had begun to take on a red tint.  
  
They had been walking around in the Canadian wilderness for close to 2 hours and they were loosing hope of ever seeing Civilization again. Suddenly a steady low growl was heard.  
  
They X-Men froze as the growl turned into a chuckled.  
  
Sabertooth jumped down from a tree to stand right in front of them.  
  
"What am I lookin' at?" Sabertooth laughed, "You little X-Fucks get in over yer heads-again?!"  
  
"Sabertooth," Cyke groaned, "And here I didn't think the day could get any worse!"  
  
"Vhy God? Vhy?" asked Kurt as he proceeded to recite a verse from the holy scriptures in German.  
  
Rogue, against her better judgment, attempted to reason with him, "Look, Wolverine didn't come with us so wahy don't you go back ta-whatever it is you do when yer not fiahtin' Logan!"  
  
"Who said I was in the mood to fight the runt today?" asked Sabertooth menacingly.  
  
"We don't have a lot of time so either give us directions to the nearest hospital or get out of our way!" Ororo's eyes started to glow.  
  
"Easy Stormy," said Victor as he leaned up against a tree, "For argument's sake let's say I do give you directions to the nearest hospital and you make it there-on foot-they'll never admit you."  
  
Storm crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, "Although, I'll bet you know where we can get help."  
  
"And what if I do?" asked Creed.  
  
"Ugh, Storm, you're wasting time," said Scott, "Gambit's got another hour at best and Sabertooth could be lying!"  
  
"Ja, Herr Scott is right." said Kurt, "It vould be more productive to be on ze move."  
  
"No it wouldn't," Storm shot Nightcrawler a cold stare, "For all we know we could be going in circles!"  
  
"She's gotta point," said Victor pointing a claw in Storm's direction, "Fer all you know I coulda been watchin' fer half an hour."  
  
Rogue was fed up, "Are you gonna help us er not?!"  
  
"Ask yer self this," Sabertooth addressed Rogue, "'Do I really think he wants ta baby-sit his ex-wife's (Mystique's) brats?!'"  
  
"That's it!" declared the sultry southern belle, "Ah'm lookin' fer the hiahway, whose with meh?!"  
  
"Wait!" said Storm, "The five of you wait here. I need to talk to Victor- alone."  
  
"This should be good," said Scott in a discouraging tone.  
  
"Kick his ASS!" yelled Rogue as Storm and Sabertooth made their way over to a secluded area.  
  
Once at a safe distance Storm looked over at her teammates to make sure they weren't trying to eavesdrop or read lips.  
  
"Help them!" said Storm in a fervent tone.  
  
"And I'm supposed to do this outta the-goodness-a my heart?" asked Saberetooth sarcastically.  
  
Storm attempted to quell the rage she felt against him for leading her on, "Help them and-" she paused, "and I'll do the most disgusting thing I can think of!"  
  
"This should be good," Sabertooth rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.  
  
Storm braced herself by closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, then in a voice hardly above a whisper she said, "I'll sleep with you."  
  
Sabertooth stared at her in disbelief for a moment. Looking her dead in the eye and studying her face to see if she was lying.  
  
Then he looked back over at the other 5 X-Men and yelled to Rogue and Kurt, "Hey kids, don't ever let yer mother say I didn't do anything fer ya!"  
  
Vic bent down a tree limb directly behind him to reveal his backyard. Moneda was out back cleaning the grill.  
  
"Hey Mona, take them down to Toad in the med lab!" yelled Victor.  
  
Once the 5 X-Men were out of ear shot all hell broke loose.  
  
"Are you telling me that if we had taken another 20 paces we would have wound up in your backyard?!" yelled Storm.  
  
"No, you would have actually missed it by about ten feet and wound up in the middle of marsh." Sabertooth corrected her.  
  
"So, you were going to help us all along?!" accused Storm.  
  
"Maybe, maybe not, my mind wasn't completely made up; China Doll posed and interesting set of pros and cons-I guess we'll never know now," Creed shrugged the whole situation off.  
  
KRACK-BOOM!-Thunder could be heard in the distance as Storm's eyes clouded over.  
  
"Oh and about later tonight," said Creed in a cheerful tone as Storm walked passed him, "wear your X-suit."  
  
Storm visibly shuddered with revulsion, "You've thought about this before, haven't you?"  
  
"Ya, a little," laughed Creed sarcastically.  
  
-------------  
  
So, there's the first chapter of the comicverse version (having just finished the movie version). What do think-I admit Vic came off a little more devious than I would have liked, but that's really more to his character in the comics I think.  
  
This is the first comicverse I've ever done and I'm not as familiar with the comics as I am the movies or the X-Evo cartoon. So if someone is out of character PLEASE don't hesitate to say something!-I'm going for authenticity within the parameters of the storyline that is!  
  
WOW!-This chapter was longer than I though it would be! 


	2. The Rules

Chapter 2: The Rules  
  
Disclaimer: I only own Moneda  
  
Ororo had seen to it that everyone had been treated and put to bed. She had left Rogue in charge of looking after everyone, but especially to make sure Scott got some sleep. Then she headed up to the kitchen where she ran into Moneda kneeding bread dough.  
  
"Would you like something to eat?" Moneda asked Storm.  
  
"No-thank you, but no. Could you just take me to my room please?" asked Ororo in a distant voice.  
  
"Of course," answered Moneda as she dumped the dough into a bowl,  
  
Moneda led Storm through the dining room and into the main hall where she couldn't help but ask, "Is something the matter, chica (girl)?"  
  
"No," said Ororo as they walked up the main stairwell.  
  
Moneda proceeded to lead Storm down a series of hallways until she stopped dead in the middle of one where two heavy wooden doors stood directly across from one another. They were the only two doors in the hallway. The old woman opened the door on the right and ushered Ororo inside.  
  
It seemed as though no one had been in the room in at least two years. A thin film of dust had accumulated on bureau against the far right wall. An oval mirror hung above the bureau and against the far wall was a slightly ajar armoire. The open cherry door exposed a variety of women's clothes in a spectrum of color.  
  
"I'm not putting anyone out, am I?" asked Storm.  
  
"No, not today anyway, five years ago the answer would have been yes." said Moneda as she walked past Ororo and turned left going past the bed that's headboard was pushed up against the wall on the far left. Moneda stopped when she came to the wall and opened a door to the right of the bed, "The bathroom is through here."  
  
"Five years ago?" asked Ororo.  
  
Moneda sighed, "Yes, Chica, five years ago this room belonged to an assistant of Senior Creed by the name of Birdy. I don't know how familiar you are with Senior Creed's history of assistants, but she died five years ago and he just hasn't gotten around to cleaning out her room yet. I hope you don't mind, I would have put you in another room, but he specifically told me this one. I barely had time to change the sheets!"  
  
Not that Storm was actually going to be sleeping in the room, mind you!  
  
"And how far is his room from here?" asked Storm.  
  
"It's directly across the hall." said Moneda more than a little intrigued by the question, "Why?"  
  
"Just curious is all," Strom attempted to brush the situation off.  
  
"Well, if you get hungry don't hesitate coming down to the kitchen. Good night, Chica." said Moneda as she left.  
  
"Good night," said Storm with a bit of a delayed reaction.  
  
"I wonder how a sweet old lady like that wound up working for Sabertooth?" Ororo thought to herself as she walked to the bathroom.  
  
If there was one thing Storm wanted it was a hot shower after a long day of battle. She felt a little weird taking one of the hair elastics from the top of the bureau, but did because she didn't want her hair to get wet.  
  
-------------  
  
Victor was in his room sitting in the same chair he had been 3 months prior with a roaring fire before him, looking over some contract offers when he heard the shower turn on.  
  
He smiled to himself and thought, "Won't be long now."  
  
It was then he put the contract he was reading down on the end table and looked at the fire place and remembered back to that night on December 24. Then it hit him-  
  
This was his chance to make another go at being a family man!  
  
Ok, sure, the first time things didn't work out too well and the kid (Graydon Creed) wound up as the head of an anti-mutant organization, but this time it would be different!- Hell, Storm would make a much better mother than Mystique ever was!  
  
-------------  
  
The alarm clock by Victor's bed had just struck 9:00 pm when Victor heard the door across the hall open. About two seconds later there was knock on his door.  
  
"It's open!" said Victor from the bed. He had moved from the chair onto the bed once he had finished going through all of the contracts. Now he had moved onto going over paperwork concerning up and coming jobs.  
  
Storm took a deep breath and went in.  
  
There was Sabertooth laying, under the covers, on the left side of a king sized bed. The only light came from the two nightstand lamps on either side of the bed and the fire place off to the right.  
  
Storm walked to the foot of the bed. Her black and silver cape trailed behind her. Her tight mid drift was visible with her cropped shirt and skin tight pants that came below her navel.  
  
She put her gloved hands on her hips and looked Sabertooth dead in the eye, "Lets get this over with!"  
  
"Yer the boss," said Creed with a wicked glint in his eye.  
  
Storm walked over to the leather chair by the fireplace and started to take off her clothes. She began by removing her cape, then her boots, then her socks, then her gloves and her pants.  
  
She walked over to the right side of the bed and slid in under the sheets.  
  
Creed gave her a quizzical look.  
  
"What?!" asked Storm.  
  
"Yer gonna keep yer shirt on?" Creed asked in disbelief.  
  
"Yes!" said Storm ardently, "What do need 'them' for?" She looked pointedly down at her chest.  
  
"Suit yerself," said Creed.  
  
There was a pause.  
  
"Ugh, fine!" grumbled Storm as she removed her underwear under the sheets and dropped it off the side of the bed.  
  
"Much better," purred Creed as rolled on top of Storm.  
  
Storm felt something hard against her leg and looked down.  
  
Her eyes widened, "You've got to be kidding me!"  
  
"Don't tell me yer sacred," said Creed sarcastically.  
  
"Huh?-No! I mean your not using a contraceptive?-What if I get-"  
  
"That's kinda the point!" Creed interrupted.  
  
"WHAT?!" yelled Storm.  
  
THUD!-Storm shoved sabertooth off the bed.  
  
"Start talking NOW!" she demanded.  
  
"Look," Victor tried to reason with Storm, "it's been along time since the whole Graydon thing, Mystique is long gone and Birdy's dead. I figure it's time to start over. I thought we'd try seven times, you go on yer merry way, get tested in a month and we'll talk."  
  
"Are you insane?!" Storm flat out asked.  
  
"All my parole officers seemed to think so," said Victor.  
  
"And if a month goes by and I'm not going to have a baby?" asked Storm.  
  
"We act like none of this ever happened." Victor said.  
  
At this point Storm just wanted the night to end, "Fine!" she conceded, "but you only get one try."  
  
"I thought I said seven."  
  
"Absolutely not!" said Storm indignantly.  
  
"Alright," Victor caved a little, "five then."  
  
"Ugh," Storm was exasperated, "three-and it's non negotiable!"  
  
"Fine!" Creed agreed.  
  
Storm could barely believe how quickly Victor managed to get off the floor and pounce on her. She could feel his tail against her inner calf. Next it looked like he was going to bite her neck.  
  
"WAIT!" yelled Storm.  
  
"What now?" sighed Creed.  
  
"Rules!" said Storm.  
  
"Rules?!" now it was Creeds turn, "Yer kiddin' me, right? Are all virgins this picky?-What kind of rules?"  
  
"No biting, no clawing and no scratching!"  
  
"God, I feel like I'm back on the play ground in grade school." said Creed, "Anything else before we get started?"  
  
"Nothing that I can think of," said Storm.  
  
"Good!" said Creed, "Yer on top."  
  
Before Storm knew what happened she was straddling Sabertooth's hips.  
  
"Ah!" Storm winced in pain.  
  
Her nails dug into Victor's chest drawing blood.  
  
"You alright?" asked Vic.  
  
Storm nodded slowly, but Victor knew to wait until she relaxed.  
  
RIP!  
  
SHRED!  
  
TEAR!  
  
The next thing Storm knew her shirt and bar were in pieces on the floor.  
  
"I thought I told you to leave that on!" growled Storm.  
  
"You never said it was a rule," countered Creed.  
  
Before Storm knew what happened she was on her back biting Victor's shoulder then it all went black.  
  
Storm woke up the next morning to the sound of running water. She watched as Victor walked out of the bathroom fully dressed and walked over to the bed.  
  
Ororo sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed.  
  
"I wouldn't suggest that, darlin'," said Victor.  
  
"And why not?" snapped Storm.  
  
"After last night yer gonna be sore," explained Sabertooth.  
  
"I'll be fine," Storm superficially assured him.  
  
She wrapped the sheet around her, stood up, tried to take a step and collapsed into Sabertooth's arms, "Nh!"  
  
"C'mon," Sabertooth easily scooped Ororo up into his arms and brought her into the bathroom where he placed her in a tub of warm water sheet and all.  
  
"I wouldn't suggest doin' anything strenuous today either."  
  
"Thanks for the advice I'll be sure to log that away." Storm said sarcastically.  
  
Victor just chuckled, "My, my aren't we nasty this mornin', at this rate I wonder when the cravings are gonna kick in," he teased her.  
  
"I AM NOT-"  
  
"We'll see in a month," Victor cut in assuredly then walked out of the bathroom.  
  
-------------  
  
Meanwhile down in the kitchen Moneda was making breakfast. While Rogue was carrying down the first wave of coffee, while Jubilee polished off a stack of pancakes.  
  
Once Jubilee had finished eating she looked around, "Hey, where's Storm?"  
  
"Ah think she's still asleep." said Rogue as she picked up a huge bowl of scrambled eggs and headed back down to the lab, "You better wake her up before our rahde get here."  
  
"Ok," said Jubilee looking towards Moneda, "how do I get to her room?"  
  
Moneda gave her directions and set Jubilee on her way.  
  
Jubilee went into Birdy's room just to find it empty and figured Moneda had made a mistake, that room Storm was staying in was on the left instead of the right. So Jubilee just crossed the hall and walked in-  
  
"Hey, Ro, Rogue said to-" Jubilee stopped mid sentence at the sight she beheld before her.  
  
There was Storm coming out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel, while Sabertooth was standing by the leather chair, that had Storm's uniform strewn about it, drinking a glass of bourbon.  
  
"HOLY SHIT!" yelled Jubilee. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what went down here!  
  
"Hey, China Doll, yer awake," said Creed.  
  
"And low I wish I were still unconscious," said Jubilee.  
  
"Jubilation, I swear there is a perfectly logical explanation for this," Ororo tried to assure her.  
  
-------------  
  
On the car ride home Storm and Jubilee were in the same car together, alone. The two women sat in silence at first, but half way through the ride Jubilee just had to get something off of her chest-  
  
She looked over at Storm, "So, does he have a rough tongue?" 


	3. 1 Month Later

Chapter 3: One Month Later  
  
Disclaimer: I still own only Moneda  
  
Upon their return to the Institute Jubilee stayed close to Ororo as the team was sent down to the medical lab to be given a once over by Jean and Hank.  
  
Needless to say Ororo was a little on edge when Wolverine walked into the room to see how Jubilee was. Once he made sure she was alright he turned toward Rogue and Storm to ask, "You up fer a Danger Room session?"  
  
"Aw, c'mon Logan we just got back and Ah don't know about ya'll, but Ah'm tired!" said Rogue.  
  
"What about you, Stormy?" Logan persisted.  
  
"Uh, no I am rather tired as well, maybe another time." Ororo said quickly as she backed out of the room.  
  
Everyone in the room watched her leave and the door close behind her.  
  
"De hell's wrong with, Stormy?" asked Gambit.  
  
"Ah'm sure she's just tired," said Rogue.  
  
Jubilee, who had heard the whole story on the car ride home, decided to keep her mouth shut, for the first time in her life.  
  
-------------  
  
The next morning Storm was absent from the Danger Room session. She felt it was in her best interest to see Professor Xavier first thing and explain the situation, before Jean or one of the telepaths picked up on either her or Jubilee's thoughts.  
  
The Prof. sat quietly behind his desk, hands clasped, and listened to the whole story from beginning to end.  
  
"Storm, are you certain Victor will take responsibility if this does in fact result in a child?" asked Xavier.  
  
"No, Charles, I'm not certain of anything other than three of my teammates most likely have been dead of I didn't do something." admitted Storm, "I couldn't live with myself if something had happened and I could have prevented it!"  
  
"I understand," said Charles.  
  
"Charles, I am begging you don't tell anyone, please."  
  
"Of course not, Ororo," the Prof. assured her.  
  
_-_-_-_  
  
Later that day in the kitchen Storm headed down for a late breakfast. Scott, Logan, Gambit, Nightcrawler, Rogue and Jubilee were all milling about the kitchen when Ororo walked in.  
  
"And just where were you?" asked Wolverine, "We all had a trainin' session this mornin', although apparently you didn't!"  
  
"Oh, I had to see the Professor this morning," explained Storm.  
  
"Why didn't you say something before?" asked Scott, "We would have found a replacement if you thought the meeting would run into training."  
  
"It was bad morning, alright?" Storm was not in the mood for talking.  
  
"Is something wrong? Can ve help?" asked Kurt.  
  
"No!-Nothing is wrong!" Storm snapped as she poured some coffee into a mug.  
  
"Um-are you sure you want to be doing that?" asked Jubilee.  
  
"Doing what?" asked Storm.  
  
"Drinking coffee!" said Jubilee like it was the most obvious thing in the world.  
  
"Whay would it matter if she's drinkin' coffee or not?" asked Rogue.  
  
"No reason," said Jubilee quickly, "I think I left the tub running I should go turn it off-back in sec."  
  
Jubilee turned to leave, but Gambit grabbed her upper arm.  
  
"You a bad lie-ya, Cher!"  
  
"Ah, Gambit, let-me-go!" Jubilee tried to squirm away unsuccessfully.  
  
"One a you start talking an' it better not be about the weather!" said Wolverine crossing his arms.  
  
~15 Minutes Later~  
  
SKNIT!  
  
"Why-would you do that?" asked Scott in absolute horror.  
  
"Gambit was going to die of blood loss, Jubilee could have been bleeding internally, some loose bone marrow could have lodged in Scott's brain and caused an aneurism and Kurt could have frozen to death from blood loss after the sun went down! What did you expect me to do, let you all die?!"  
  
"Gambit could have made it on his own!" insisted Remy.  
  
"They pumped 2 pints of blood into you!" Storm yelled at Gambit.  
  
"Well I would have been fine!" said Jubilee with confidence.  
  
"You were on a respirator for two hours before your breathing became regular again!" Ororo pointed out.  
  
"Ja vell-" Kurt began.  
  
"Don't start, Kurt," Storm cut him off, "You have 50 stitches!"  
  
"What now?" asked Wolverine.  
  
"We wait," said Scott, "there's nothing else we can do."  
  
"What possessed you to keep yer shirt on?!" asked Rogue.  
  
Everyone stared at her like she was insane.  
  
"What?" asked Rogue.  
  
~*~ 1 Month Later ~*~  
  
You could cut the tension in the med lab with a knife.  
  
Gambit was leaning in the doorframe. Rogue was standing to the left of Gambit. Wolverine was leaning up against the cabinets, while Jubilee sat beside him on top of the cabinets. Jean was sitting down in an office chair behind a computer with Scott standing behind her, while Hank was manning the printer.  
  
It seemed like a millennia had come and gone before the printer went off-  
  
Actually it was more like fifteen minutes. You see Jean took a blood sample from Storm and tested it in a very technologically advanced piece of equipment, resembling a toaster oven, that could be hooked up to a printer to give a full diagnostic print out.  
  
Hank tore the print out off.  
  
"Well?" Ororo asked nervously.  
  
"Is she gonna have a baby or not?!" asked Jubilee impatiently.  
  
"In a word-," said Hank, "yes."  
  
THUD!-Gambit passed out.  
  
BAMF-Kurt ported into the room.  
  
"Some guy just pulled up in a limo. He says he vas sent by Sabertooth to pick Storm up." Kurt reported, "The Professor is talking vith him."  
  
"I'll go pack a bag," said Storm rather detached.  
  
They all watched as Storm left the room, with the exception of Remy, of course, who was still unconscious. The wonder on all their minds was how could she remain so calm.  
  
The truth is Storm knew. She had been sick some mornings and felt dizzy at times, but she neglected to tell anyone. Just chalking it up to bad sushi, the only problem was that she had never eaten sushi in her life and wasn't planning on starting anytime soon. Probably figuring if she ignored all the symptoms they would just go away.  
  
_-_-_-_  
  
Later that night the limo sped off through the darkness with Storm. 


	4. Direct vs Indirect Interference

Chapter 4: Direct vs Indirect Interference

Disclaimer: So far I only own Moneda(AN: If you only knew how long it took me to write this chapter!)It was almost midnight when the limo pulled into the drive way of Sabertooth's manor. The lights in the front hall were on and Moneda greeted her at the door."Senor Creed, had some 'business' in the Netherlands. He should be home shortly. I'll show you to his room." said Moneda as she took Storm's bag and began up the stairs."His room?!" asked Storm, "What about the room I was in last time?""He said that you would be staying his room." Moneda explained, "Would you care for anything before you retire?""No, that won't be necessary," said Storm.Moneda left Ororo's bag at the foot of the bed on top of a bench at the foot of the bed and left Storm to settle in.Of course once the door closed, Ororo went about snooping through Creed's bureau, but to no avail. All she discovered was that Sabertooth was boxers man.After she finished with a bureau, Storm decided to turn in. But one thing was for damn sure, there was no way she was going to sleep in his room. Ro picked up her duffle bag and marched herself across the hall and into Birdy's old room.She figured if she fell asleep before Sabertooth came home she could avoid a confrontation on the first night. She was right. She climbed into Birdy's bed, which was considerably narrower than Sabertooth's king-sized one, and before she knew what happened she was asleep.Ororo didn't realize how tired she was. She didn't regain consciousness until 1 o'clock in the afternoon, the next day. When she did come to, however, she realized she was on her side- pinned! There was something huge and warm against her back and something that felt like a paw was on her lower abdomen. Then she felt her back starting to vibrate slightly and she heard a low rumble, which she would have sworn to be a purr.Storm made a good attempt to stay calm and rationally go about the situation. She was doing quite well until her hand found its' way to the end of the paw, more commonly referred to as adimantium claws-then she started to panic.Ororo started to squirm in an attempt to get away."Easy," said Victor rolling onto his back, "little early for a C-section don't you think?"Storm just stared at him incredulously."What?" asked Vic.THUD!-Storm shoved Sabertooth off the bed."Hey, what's yer problem?!" said Vic getting to his feet."What's my problem? What's your problem?!" asked Ro getting out of bed and standing to face him, "You have your own room-Sleep in it!"Victor looked blankly at Storm."Why are you in here?!" she said rather exasperated."Because we need to talk," said Sabertooth as though it was blatantly obvious."About what?" asked Ororo."Permanent living arrangements," said Sabertooth simply."P-Permanent?!" Storm stuttered, "I can't stay here. I'm an X-Men!""You can't go on missions anymore," Sabertooth pointed out."So? The Institute is still my home.""They won't have time to take care of you. They've still gotta train.""I can take care of myself!" insisted Storm indignantly, "I have been for the past month.""Ya, the first month, that's always the easiest." Sabertooth snorted, "It gets a lot worse from here on in.""That may be true, but in the end you don't have time either with your _line of work_!""I'll take some time off-and just what's that s'posed ta mean, my _line of work_?!" said Victor more than just a little offended."You know what it means!" Storm was yelling now.Sabertooth started to growl.Storm's eyes started to glow.The fight would have progressed to four letter words, but Moneda happened to walk in, "Senior, there's a call on line one waiting in your office."Sabertooth got in one last growl before brushing past Moneda and heading down the hall to his office."UR!-That man is infuriating," Storm was fuming.Moneda chuckled a little, "You'll have to be patient, Chica, Senior Creed is used to getting his own way.""Well, that is about to change!" vowed Storm crossing her arms, eyes still glowing.Thunder could be heard as dark clouds began to move in over the horizon."That's odd. I didn't think we were due for a storm," said Moneda looking out the window."On the contrary, we're overdue for one," Storm assured her."C'mon, chica," Moneda took Ororo by the hand, "I'll make you breakfast."---"-and I appreciate you offered it to me first, but I can't right now-you could say that-I know it's like being in the eye of a storm.-Great we'll do business later." Victor hung up the phone and began to walk out of his office when...CRAK-BOOM!"Shit," thought Victor.On his way downstairs Victor passed Toad's room, the door was open (Toad was there every once in a while, pretty much when ever he needed a break from Magneto.) It was a barter system. Toad got room and board for free as long as took care of all the electrical alarm systems and the cars. For the most part it was an even trade.They pretty much gave each other their space, but today Toad just couldn't resist."Sounds like a storm's comin'," commented Toad, not looking up from his video game."Grrr, and just what would you know about weather patterns?" asked Sabertooth stooping at the threshold."There's always a rainbow after a storm.""Ya, but how much destruction is there overall?" asked Victor."Well that all depends," said Toad as he frantically pressed buttons on the game controller."How do you figure?" asked Sabertooth."You know what they say," said Toad."No, what?" asked Victor.Toad put the game on pause, sighed and gave Victor a sly look, "It's not nice to mess with Mother Nature."Victor smirked and walked away.---Meanwhile Storm had finished breakfast and was now watching the rain hitting the pool through French doors of the kitchen with her arms crossed. She was quite pleased with her handy work.Then she saw Sabertooth's reflection in glass."What do you want?" asked Storm refusing to turn around. She felt her eyes narrow and her jaw set."Here," Victor put the phone in her hand, "call for your clothes or for them to pick you up, I don't care."With that he walked away.Needless to say she caught of guard, but there was no point to looking a gift horse in the mouth. Once she heard him go up stairs, she dialed the Institute- It rang.Once.Twice."Hello?" Hank picked up."Hank, it's Storm is Charles there?""No, Storm, I'm sorry, he's not. He went to a conference in London with Scott and Jean.""What about Gambit or Rogue?" inquired Storm."They went out to Harry's for an late lunch," said Hank."What about Kurt?" asked Storm."Jubilation managed to drag him out to the mall and then to a movie.""And Logan?" Storm asked beginning to get annoyed."Out on the open road somewhere, I imagine. Although I'm sure they'll all be back before long. We have a danger room session first thing tomorrow, a shower, breakfast, then a meeting in the war room, we have to get fitted for back up uniforms, take the X-Jet out for a trial run to see if Scott and Logan put the new systems properly, were taking lunch on the jet, coming back for another danger session, another shower and then I assume dinner. Why is something wrong?-Storm?-Hello, are you still there?""Wha-yes, I'm still here," said Strom quickly. She was a little shell shocked hearing all the activities for the next day and then it hit her that was norm pretty much every day. If she went back she would only be a burden on them. Although more importantly she realized, if she kept Victor at home, she would technically be saving lives.She sighed and told herself it was for the greater good."Is something wrong?" Hank repeated."Oh, no, I was just wondering if you could FedEx my clothes up here. It seems I'll be staying for a while. Sabertooth and I still have a lot to discuss. We started earlier, but as you can imagine it could have gone better.""I understand completely," said Hank, "just be careful.""I will, bye.""Bye."Storm pushed the "end" button on the phone and returned it to the receiver in the main entrance hall.---Later that night...Storm walked out of the bathroom and towards Birdy's dresser. The floor creaked under the Persian rug as she passed the foot of the bed. She didn't think much of the floor for the moment and continued on to remove a pair of sweats and a tank top from the top drawer.Then she noticed photos shoved in the edge of the mirror. They were all pretty much the same with Birdy and Sabertooth standing side by side, not unlike the American Gothic Couple. She always had a huge grin on her face and her blonde hair up in a pony tale, while Sabertooth was either lighting a cigar or looking off into the distance.The only thing that seemed to change in the photos was the background.That's when she noticed the door was open. Not only was her door open, but so was Sabertooth's door. She could see him laying on the bed in black silk pajama pants going over what she assumed were contracts.SLAM!-Storm blew the door shut with a gust of wind and dressed for bed.Across the hall Sabertooth sighed and rolled his eyes. He, quite frankly, hated having the door open. It was just unnerving for him, being an assassin and all. But he did it to make sure Storm would wake him up if she got up in the middle of the night.And sure enough around 2:30am Storm found herself in mid worship of the porcelain god.Sabertooth managed to clean her up and carry her back to his room. She stared blankly at him as he placed her on the bed."You don't know who I am, do you?" Sabertooth asked as he carefully removed a strand of hair from Storm's face.Storm blinked and closed her eyes momentarily. All of a sudden her vision was very blurry and it felt like she was in the middle of Death Valley during a dry spell!Everything went black for Ororo when Sabertooth gently put one huge paw over her forehead, "Yer really warm."The last thing Storm remembered was feeling something cold on her forehead.---The next afternoon Storm woke up in Sabertooth's bed draped over his chest with an ice pack on his head. Needless to say she was confused as to how she wound up in his room in the first place."Ugh, my head," she groaned as she tried to sit up, but soon fell back onto Victor's chest from on account of dizziness."How do you feel?" asked Victor gingerly removing a loose strand of white hair from Storm's face."In a word," said Storm flatly, "sick."Storm felt something go into her ear and heard a click."Huh?" she looked up to see Toad holding an ear thermometer."100," said a relieved Toad looking at the thermometer."Isn't that a little high?" asked Storm."It dropped from 103 around 1 am." Toad informed her."1 am?" asked Ro rather confused."You passed out," said Sabertooth."Wait...when did you get here?" Ro asked Toad, "Second thought never mind, I'm going back to my room." She shifted to get off the bed."No, stay in bed until your temperature goes back to normal," said Toad sternly."I feel a lot better," Storm unconvincingly attempted to assure him as she tried to get up once more only to fall back onto Victor's chest again."Why don't you guys try to get some sleep?" said Toad heading for the door."Alright," consented Ororo, "but on one condition.""And what's that?" asked Victor sarcastically.A clap of thunder could be heard not too far off.Storm's eyes glowed as she looked Vic dead in the eye, "Get your hand off my ass."Toad snickered to himself on the way out. There was no doubt in his mind the next couple of months would be interesting. And right now it was anyone's game.---At the Institute Storm's absence had not gone unnoticed . They all missed her, but they weren't sure how to go about the situation. It was, by far, a sore topic that everyone refused to talk about until one morning Jubilation couldn't take it anymore-"Why are you all just sitting around?!-We've got to go get Storm and bring her home!" Jubilee burst into the kitchen."Kid, we've been through this," Wolverine sighed as he turned to the sports section of the news paper, "Ro's a big girl. She knows what's best for her and it's not our place to second guess her decision.""Not our place?!" Jubilee was dumbfounded Wolverine could ever say such a thing, "We're her family!""You don't think this hasn't been hard for us either?" Scott looked up from the font page, "Storm was one of our most powerful team members. It's going to be impossible to replace her.""R-replace her?!" Jubilee started to tear up."Now look what you've done, Scott!" Jean scolded him."Cher, don' get us wrong we all love Stormy, but it's jus' she can be stubborn sometimes and it's betta to let her work tings out on her own. 'Specially in dis situation wid Creed." Remy explained.Wolverine started to growl just at the mention of Sabertooth's name.That's when Jubilee made an important observation: everyone was on edge. Scott, Remy and Logan refused to look at her but had death grips on their papers, Jean was lost in thought blowing on a cup of coffee she had poured 20 minutes ago, Rogue was getting antsy over by the toaster as she waited for toast she had never put in, in the first place and Nightcrawler was staring out the window."He told you all not to do anything, didn't he? The Prof., I mean, he told you not to interfere," it all became blatantly obvious once she just looked around the room."Well of course he told us not to do anything!" Scott yelled, "Don't you think we would have been up there the next day in full uniform with the X- Jet?!""I did wonder," said Jubilee."And vhat? You think you are the only one whose noticed its been raining for three veeks straight, from ze night after Storm left?" asked Kurt."Our hands are tied, kid. We can't do anything," said Logan somberly."B'leve us, Chere, if dere was sometin' we coulda done, we woulda done it," Remy assured her.Jubilee paused for a moment then a wicked smiled passed over her face and she began to laugh manically."Merde, Remy, tink she snapped."Jubilee looked over at Rogue, "When the Prof. said not to interfere, he meant not to interfere directly, right?""Ah guess." said Rogue "What are you gettin' at?""What if we interfere indirectly by sending in a third party, who we cold trust to regulate the situation?" asked Jubes grinning like a mad man."And who would this third party be?" asked Scott, rather in the dark."Another assassin," said Jubilee with a wicked gleam in her eye as she looked at Rogue."Nien!-Mein Gott!" exclaimed Kurt, "Ve must have anozer option!""Oh, Ah liahke this option just fiahne," said Rogue grinning from ear to ear as she took off for her room.Once she got there she began tearing everything apart looking for a number.---Meanwhile somewhere at a mansion in Germany...All the rooms stood silent. The owners, an elderly couple, never made it out of the dining room. The servants fled.Upstairs the looting had already begun.ring-ring a cell phone went off."Mystique, here-Oh, Rogue, it's nice to hear from you, dear-What's wrong? Why are you crying?-Did Gambit do something?-Not Gambit-Storm?-Darling, you need to calm down, I can't understand you, take a deep breath. Good, not what happened?-HE DID WHAT?! WITH HER?!-AND NOW SHE'S WHAT?!-Don't worry, I'm going to handle this!" said Mystique fuming as she hung up the phone.---Rogue smiled as she hung up the phone. Being able to cry on cue sure came in handy through the years, but this was by far her crowning achievement. 


	5. Enter the Assassin

Chapter 5: Enter the Assassin

Disclaimer: So far I own only Moneda and her original family. All the X-Characters belong to someone else.

Darkness.

Stillness.

Quiet.

Tickling…

It started on the bicep on his right and moved up his arm, across his collarbone in a thin line, then down to his right pec.

"England…France…" thought Victor, slowly coming back to consciousness.

Gradually the gentle sensation traveled up to his other shoulder,

"Russia…"

The feeling moved down again to the left side of his rib cage, then just below his navel-

"Germany…Switzerland…" he smirked to himself (Or so he thought).

He could feel something pulling at the top of his boxers. Italy was next.

Wait a minute…only one of his female partners had ever traced out their mission route on his chest and that was-

"Raven!" Creed sat straight up in bed growling.

"Hello Darling," Mystique grinned, "I can't remember the last time you were sound asleep like this."

"Ya, well, I've been busy…" said Creed lamely.

"So I heard," said Mystique drolly, "and tell me, how has life been with the weather witch?"

"It's been…Wait, how the hell do you know about that!" demanded Creed.

"Rogue called me in a panic three days ago when I was on a job in Germany. Honestly, Victor, what were you thinking!" scolded Mystique, "You barely know her and she's an X-Man on top of that! And I don't believe for one second that they're OK with this little arrangement."

"Haven't heard from them since she came," said Sabertooth smugly.

"No doubt Xavier's work, wanting to give her space to handle her own problems," scoffed Mystique, "or some crap like that."

Creed rolled his eyes and looked at the clock.

1:00 pm

"But seriously, how did you con her into this?"

"I didn't," growled Creed, "She came willingly!"

Mystique snorted, "Fine, I'll give you that-for now. But I intend to get to the bottom of this. Lord knows I have eight months to figure it all out."

"How do you figure eight months she's nearly three now and…Whoa, wait a minute-yer not stayin' here."

"Don't be ridiculous, of course I am." stated Mystique, "Victor, you have no idea what you've gotten her into, trust me on this one. I know, I've been through this twice and it wasn't a walk in the park either time."

Victor started to growl, "How did you get in here anyway? Turn into a fly 'er sumthin'?"

Mystique didn't flinch, "Don't be ridiculous! I mean really, nearly half a century and you still haven't moved the spare key from under the 'welcome' mat!"

"Ahem."

Sabertooth and Mystique's gaze snapped to the doorway where Toad happened to be standing.

"Vic, you might want to come take a look at this," said the amphibian motioning for the cat to follow.

Toad lead Sabertooth and Raven down a few halls and stopped outside, gesturing the other two mutants in. They could all hear the treadmill going full blast.

Creed and Mystique walked in to find Storm running on the treadmill.

"What hell do you think yer doin' woman! Ya tryin' ta miscarry!" yelled Creed.

"What? No," said storm looking away from the weather report from a TV mounted in the corner of the room, "I only have it on level four, I usually train on level eight. I found when I stay in motion I don't get nauseous and so I figured…Mystique!"

"Hello, Storm," Mystique grinned as she walked over to the side of treadmill, "I must say this is the last place I'd ever expect to see you."

"Well, that makes two of us," sighed the weather witch.

The shape shifter exchanged a glance with Vic and he got into position behind the treadmill.

"You know, Dear, now that you have one on the way, you should be taking it easy. Relaxing. Start by taking a load off your feet…" With that having been said Mystique pinched open the emergency stop clip.

As you most likely figured out, the treadmill stopped dead and Storm went flying into Victor's arms. Initially, she started to squirm, but then her stomach caught up with her.

"Down," Storm gasped, "put me down!"

Sabertooth complied, gently setting Ororo on her feet, just to have her make a mad dash for the bathroom to throw up.

"Breakfast is ready," Moneda yelled up the stairs.

"Give us a few minutes, will ya, Mona," shouted Creed.

20 minutes later found Storm sitting at the dining room table with a throbbing. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she tried to stave off the pounding and the nausea as she witnessed Toad wolf down a tall stack of pancakes.

Victor was reading the paper with a cup of black coffee and Moneda went back into the kitchen.

Ororo jumped when Mystique put a cup of coffee cup down on the table next to her.

"Where does it hurt?" asked the shape shifter.

"Above the right eye," said Storm.

"Here," Mystique said as she depresses a pressure point on the back of Storm's neck.

"AH, what are you…!" yelped the weather as the pressure increased and then completely dissipated, "How did you…?"

"Assassin." Raven smirked, "We have to know release points and fatal pressure points, they're cleaner for more discrete jobs. If used correctly, they can make a murder look like a heart attack."

"Oh," said Storm paling slightly from T.M.I (Too Much Information).

Later that night, Storm was once again getting ready for bed in Birdy's old room, mentally kicking herself for procrastinating when it came to Victor. She knew she should speak with him soon, but she just didn't feel like it and it probably wasn't a good idea in the long run.

As it was, she was generally in a foul mood due to her clothes becoming tighter with what seemed every passing day. At the rate she was going, she would probably wind up in Sabertooth's old shirts by the end of the 5th month.

Then there were also the mood swings that could sneak up on her at any point. One minute she'd be fine, the next she would be seething for no real reason at all and the following she would be "excited" and in bad need of a cold shower. It was the fianl one she did not want Sabertooth picking up on.

And that was just it! Sabertooth, for the most part, knew everything about her. He could pick up on her every reaction to him and, in the meantime, she couldn't read him at all. Storm also knew barely anything about him other than he killed people for a living and the X-Men fought him whenever he crossed their path.

That's when it hit her. She had never looked at him as a person and that was where she had to start if she wanted to get anywhere in their negations, as Jubilation would say, "Oh, crap!" Maybe she could pump Mystique for information. It was risky and would most likely require the secession of information on her part as well. There was also Toad, but he and Sabertooth seemed to pretty much give each other their space. Her best bet was probably Moneda. It had the possibility of being a long shot, but it was the best lead she could pursue at the moment.

If only she had a cheat sheet or something.

Storm sighed as she got off the bed to go brush her teeth. The floor board at the foot of the bed creaked as she walked over it.

Across the hall Mystique and Victor settled into the master bedroom. Don't get me wrong, Raven definitely raised an eyebrow in Victor's direction when Storm headed off to Birdy's room for the night, but she knew better than ask Victor directly about it, just then. She waited until the next day when she and Victor were sorting through paperwork.

"No wonder you're in such a bad mood. Storm must have threatened you within inches of your life to make you take time off," Mystique began casually, "And who organized this file cabinet, a chimp! Why is a job done for a Mrs. Lilandra Ceballos filed under 'P'?"

Victor looked up from the papers on his desk, "If memory serves, Mrs. Ceballos was originally from Paris and Storm didn't threaten me into anything. I chose to take a vacation."

"Honesty, Victor, it's one thing if you're going to screw a bimbo like Birdy, it's entirely another if you're going to let her near the secretarial end of the business. My God, it could take weeks to sort this mess out, not to mention the revenue you're going to loose by taking time off."

"Since when do you care so much about my finances?" asked Creed, "Where are ya goin' with this?"

"Well, now that I'm here you could go off on jobs and know that Storm is in good hands," said Raven. She figured with Victor out of the house Storm would be more inclined to talk about the circumstances that led to her current condition.

Victor snorted, "If yer so interested in jobs why don't you go out on a few and I'll stay here with Storm."

"Then who would put these files in order? And why a job in Rochester, NY filed under 'R' instead of 'H' for Mr. Hosenfoffer who ordered the hit! There is no consistency here at all!"

"I'll higher someone," said Victor turning back to the paperwork on his desk.

Now it was Mystique's turn to snort, "Who, a temp? Ha, you straights can't handle this business."

"It's summer, right?" said Creed.

"Yes, so?" asked Raven.

"I'll higher one of Xavier's brats."

Downstairs Toad was tuning up the cars in the garage and Moneda had begun her cleaning routine for the day, starting in the kitchen.

It was now or never.

Storm decided to make her move.

"Excuse me, Moneda…do you have a minute?"


	6. Floorboard Malfunction

Beauty and the Beast

Chapter 6: Floorboard Malfunction

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the X-Men, X-Villains or Aus. At this point, I only own Moneda and her back story.

"Yes, of course." said Mona looking up from her cleaning, "Did you need something?"

"Oh, um…no. I was just wondering about Saber-I mean, Victor. What does he do in his spare time?"

"Spare time?" asked Moneda.

Storm gave a defeated sigh. There was no use in sugar coating the situation, "What does he do between jobs?"

"Oh," Moneda was taken a back, "well, he has box seats at the theatre…but he hasn't gone in years. Birdy was usually the one who dragged him there."

"Anything else?" Storm asked hopefully.

"Let's see," Mona continued thoughtfully, "Oh, that's right, he also has seasonal hockey tickets…but, come to think of it he doesn't use those either. Toad does, on occasion, although Senior Creed usually watches the playoffs in the living room."

"Alright, what about restaurants? Does Victor go out to eat much when he's at home?"

"No," said Moneda frankly, "he usually just defrosts a few stakes and warms them on the grill or in the microwave."

"Oh," said Ororo paling slightly.

The conversation progressed through the rest of the rooms on the first floor and continued onto the second floor. All the while Storm continued to grill Moneda about Creed, but to no avail.

By the time they reach the master bedroom Storm's frustration had become quite evident in the lighting storm that had miraculously formed and increased in severity over the course of the conversation.

CRACK-BOOM!

A bolt of lightning stuck the lawn on the side of the house, shaking the foundation.

Moneda maintained her composure as the window panes rattled. She just continued to make the bed, unfazed. Then again it hadn't taken much to figure out what Ororo's mutant power, considering Moneda could count on one hand the number of sunny days there had been since Storm had arrived.

"Something troubling you, Chica?" asked Moneda as she fluffed up the pillows.

"Nothing," sighed Storm sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Nothing is bothering you?" asked Mona doubtfully.

"No!" exclaimed Storm, "Nothing-We have absolutely nothing in common. How are we going to raise a child! What was I thinking sleeping with him without protection? What was I thinking sleeping with him in the first place! I mean, they all would have made it anyway, right! They've been through worse and survived…"

Outside the lightning storm subsided, dissolving into hard rain.

"This is a disaster," sobbed the weather witch.

"Oh, Chica," said Moneda softly as she pulled a handkerchief from her pocket, "it won't be so bad. Rekindling old romances can be difficult, but it will all work out in the end. You'll see."

"'Rekindling old romances?'" asked Storm.

"Si, Senior Creed told me all about it. How the two of you were involved before, you broke his heart and he hired Birdy as a way to get back at…and none of that is true, is it?" asked Moneda when she saw the look of sheer horror on Ororo's face.

"No!" said Storm vehemently, "You remember a few months back when…"

The Weather Witch recounted the entire tale up to the present. She began with the mission she and her teammates were sent on, the injuries the others had sustained, how they were running out of time, wandering aimlessly in the Canadian wilderness for hours, inadvertently crossing paths with Sabertooth, failing to get directions to the nearest hospital, playing upon Victor's "little" obsession with her to save her teammates and the actual act, which was lost somewhat through the sobs. Not that it matter though, Mystique, who had come running from the office when she heard the lightning strike outside had been standing at the door and heard everything. The shape shifter and Moneda exchanged looks. Then Mystique turned tail and headed back down the hall without a word.

Raven walked calmly into the office. Toad had come in since she left, he and Victor were playing with the computer, apparently trying to set up a hotmail account.

"Toad, out!" said Mystique forcefully.

"But we're…" Toad began.

"NOW!" shouted Mystique.

Toad was barely able to dive out of the room before Mystique slammed the door and locked it.

Prepare for the fight scene!

"Victor Creed, you have done some horrendous things in your, many of which I have witnessed and/or participated in, but this is by far the worst! What the hell were you thinking, taking advantage of her like that! You should be shot…not that it would even slow you down."

"I…" Victor began to defend himself.

"I don't want to know!" Mystique held up a hand, "Honestly, Victor, if you wanted a child that badly, I don't see why we couldn't have worked something out…after many heated discussions…death threats and some strenuous negotiation."

"No, we couldn't have," Creed interrupted.

Mystique raised a slim red eyebrow.

"The last one was the head of a fuckin' anti-mutant organization and more importantly human! I couldn't risk that again."

"Oh, I see," said Mystique in an airy tone, "you can't 'risk that again,' so you bedded a complete stranger."

"She's not a 'stranger.' Hell, we've both known her for years."

"You mean we've fought her for years! For God's sake Victor, she's an X-Men, you know, a goody two shoes. Any kids she has will probably be honor role students, eat their vegetables, brush their teeth before bed and positive be influences on non-mutant society!"

"Ya, well, maybe I want good kids this time!" Victor countered.

"And just what is that supposed to mean!" shouted Raven.

"Mutants or not, Storm wouldn't abandon her kid or any kid for that matter!" Creed growled.

"So that's it!" declared Mystique, "You blame me for the whole Graydon thing, don't you!"

"Well, ya," said Sabertooth as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

And that's when the objects in the room took to flight!

"You SON OF A-"

CRASH!

"HOW DARE YOU-"

BAM!

"-BLAME ME!"

SMASH!

"YOU COULD HAVE TAKEN GRAYDON WITH YOU!"

"HOW!" Victor cut in, "HE WAS A MONTH OLD WHEN I HAD TO LEAVE

AND YOU WERE THE ONE WITH THE TITS!"

Mystique froze and put her hands on her hips.

It was then Sabertooth realized he had just made a grave tactical error, "…oh shit," he thought to himself.

"IS THAT WHAT YOU THINK! THAT ONLY WOMEN CAN TAKE CARE OF BABIES!"

"I DIDN'T SAY THAT!" argued Victor.

"NO, BUT YOU WERE THINKING IT!" insisted Mystique, "I'LL BE SURE TO WARN STORM THAT SHE'S GOING TO BE DOING ALL THE WORK AFTER THE BABY'S BORN!"

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" growled Victor, "I'LL HELP!"

"OH SURE!" Mystique rolled her eyes, "WHEN THE GAME GOES TO COMMERCIAL! BE HONEST, VICTOR! YOU DIDN'T HELP WITH GRAYDON AT ALL!"

"THAT WAS DIFFERENT!" argued Victor.

"HOW!" interrogated Mystique.

"WE NEVER PLANNED GRAYDON! YOU STARTED GETTIN' SICK ALL THE TIME AFTER WE CAME BACK FROM THAT JOB IN AUSTRIA!-I ACTUALLY WANT THIS KID!"

Yet another grave tactical error.

If there was ever anything Victor wished he could take back, it was that last sentence. As soon as he finished, he noticed Mystique's eye started twitching.

Another round of objects were smashed as the fight raged on.

---

At the other end of the manor, Moneda had finished with the master bedroom snd managed to coax Storm into Birdy's room.

"Try to get some rest." Moneda advised , "I'll bring up some lunch later."

"Wait," Storm called from the bed.

"Yes?" asked Moneda.

"How did you come to work for Victor?"

"A story for another day." said Moneda with a wave of her hand, "You're upset enough as it is."

Ororo didn't get a chance to respond to before the older woman smiled kindly and closed the door behind her.

As Moneda's footsteps receded down the hall, Storm sighed and got up from the bed. She was too frustrated to sleep. Maybe if looked at the pictures in the mirror frame again, she could see a different side of Victor. Although, mostly doubting this theory, Storm, Nevertheless, headed toward the bureau until…

CREAK

It was the same part of the floor that creaked before. Only this time, with bare feet, Storm felt the entire board dislodge. She carefully knelt down and peeled back the Oriental rug to find one of the floor boards had been poorly bifurcated on purpose.

Storm lifted the fragment of the board to reveal a secret compartment in the floor, containing only a small, leather bound journal. Reaching in, she removed the book and put both floor board and carpet back as they were.

Sitting down on the bed after she locked the door, Storm settled in for what she assumed would be an intriguing read-she had no idea just how intriguing.

The Weather Witch opened to the first page of the book, which opened with:

"_Hi,_

_My name is Birdy Jay. If you're reading this, I'm probably dead…"_


End file.
